Rust: The New Obsession

After reading the title of this post, some of you might be wondering if you missed a new game release. No, I’m actually talking about real “rust” here. You know, the stuff that causes natural erosion on metal and turns it that groovy orange-green color. What does this have to do with video games, you might ask?

Last night, I watched Silent Hill, the popular video game/movie crossover. It was good, certainly preferable to most video game/move crossovers. It was genuinely creepy and had great set/costume design. I don’t suggest it to anyone who is easily disturbed by visual images or is even remotely squeamish, seeing as the movie is both claustrophobic and overly gory at points. Should you consider yourself in possession of an iron stomach or simply in the mood to be scared, you might notice something unique about Silent Hill, however. At least, I did.

Silent Hill is one of those movies that specializes in set design completely overrun with rust. Seriously, half of the movie is colored that familiar orange-green hue. It’s a phenomenon I can only describe as “metallic.”

It got me thinking about all the movies, and especially video games, I had watched or played that heavily featured this theme. Consider games like Fallout, Bioshock, Rage, Borderlands, and Gears of War. All of these, at least to some extent, contain the element of rust. Some rarely contain anything else.

It seems as though humanity has developed an obsession, or at least a keen interest, in all things rust. At some point in the past, rust stopped becoming just an annoyance and an indicator of the decrepit and became an art form.

I live near Portland, Oregon and the phenomenon is here too. I have seen an innumerable amount of artwork, paintings, and especially photographs that feature rust as the central element. Sometimes it seems all you need for an intriguing senior high school photo is stand in front of a rusty brick wall and not look at the camera.

You might think that I am going to unveil the answer to the mystery of rust in this post. But the fact is that I don’t really know why we, as humans, are so captivated by the presence of rust. It’s an element connotative of age, durability, and, in some cases, inevitable decay. All of these are core themes within art. It could be that rust signifies collective thought between these themes, ultimately beckoning in a sense of doom or death.

On the other hand, rust could be connotative of the undying hope of rebirth. Rust ushers in change, the itching need for a new beginning. The aforementioned video games all contain the need for a new order or system as a central theme within their plot. It could be that rust is the visual stimuli that prompts gamers to recognize the need for a fresh start.

More probable is the possibility that rust somehow connects all these themes into a collective story. It begins by ushering in the realities of decay and death. It then proceeds to answer these realities by encouraging viewers to pursue or simply hope for the potential of new life.

At this point, I am simply speculating. However, we recognize the importance of weaving the cycle of death and the promise of new life into our stories, which rust seems to do quite well. Death and the victory of life are key elements in all the greatest stories – most notably that of Jesus – and create the tension that keeps us, as observers, intrigued.

Exactly why themes like rust have taken such a dominant role in movies and video games lately is something I will discuss further in later posts. However, in the meantime, consider other artistic elements that commonly associate the presence of rust. A few of these elements include dripping or pooling water, heat, steam, dragging or sloughing noises, loud clanks and metallic reverberations, echoing footsteps, darkness or limited visibility, industry, fortitude, and resilience. What do these elements, when combined, say about what we, as a society, expect or enjoy about our methods of entertainment?